No July 4th recess for the Senate

A senior Democratic aide tells NBC, "At 9:30 Senator Reid will go to the floor to announce that the Senate will forego its scheduled recess for the week of July 4th and stay in session to continue forging a deal to cut the deficit and create jobs."

UPDATE: Reid announced on the floor that the Senate will return for votes on the evening of July 5 and remain in session for the rest of the week. Negotiators will spend the week continuing work on a deficit reduction deal with the House and the Obama administration in advance of an August 2 debt ceiling deadline.

UPDATE II: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell challenged the president Thursday to outline his debt plans, inviting Obama to speak to Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill and "explain his plans to hike taxes by hundreds of billions," per McConnell's office.